Sirius stops and looks at Clare with a big grin on his face. "Oh, I think I found a really ticklish spot!" he chuckled. He leans forward, holding the feather just above her toes but again looks into her eyes.

*Well, that really worked, but should I keep it up?* he thinks, forgetting in his excitement that she might be reading his mind. *I wonder if I should ask her if it's ok, to see if she really minds...but if I do, and she begs me not to, I probably wouldn't...*

"So, shall we start again?" he grins, once again moving his feather to Clare's left hindfoot and again starting to tickle between her toes.

Sirius grins, and begins to move the feather upward. He brushes it across the tops of her feet, then moves up her legs, stopping to brush it behind her knees for a moment. He moves it up until he is almost at her belly, but then grins even more and instead slides the feather along her ribs.

*Okay,* he thinks. He is unable to prevent himself from also thinking about what a beauty she is, and what a cute laugh she has!

He quickly shifts around behind her, moving his head down so that it is right alongside hers - an easy thing to do because of their long necks. "And now, something just a bit different," he whispers in her ear. He again picks up the feather and begins stroking it up and down in the hollow underneath her left wing.

*Well, I'm glad she seems to be having fun with this!* Sirius thinks to himself. But he's curious to see how she reacts if he moves a bit. So, with hardly a pause, he switches to tickling under her arms.